New Taurus Judge Handgun

This is a discussion on New Taurus Judge Handgun within the General Firearm Discussion forums, part of the Related Topics category; Has anyone seen this thing? it shoots .410 and 45 long. Slugs as well, I didn't even know they made .410 slugs.
To show you ...

New Taurus Judge Handgun

Has anyone seen this thing? it shoots .410 and 45 long. Slugs as well, I didn't even know they made .410 slugs.

To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want ‘em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot ‘em. -Ted Nugent

I held one in a local gun shop

I first saw it in an ad and then read a couple of reviews in magazines. Reports are good for the most part. I'm looking for a revolver for my wife to keep as a house gun and thought this might be "IT".

Haven't gotten her to the shop yet to see what she thinks of it. I held and fondled it and it's bigger than I first thought, and the balance is not everything I want. It's a little heavy at the muzzle, but with that long a cylinder and a 3 or 6 inch barrel hanging out there...

I did get the wife to hold an S&W and a Ruger SP101 and she felt the Ruger had the better balance. So we may be going that way. She needs something around the house when I'm not there.

I got her to shoot my two autos and working the slide is her only problem with them - not enough grip strength.

At our gun shop we couldn't keep the darned things on the shelf. We got three of them in one morning... they were all gone in less than six hours. It doesn't matter if it's stainless, blued, two-tone (which they already stopped making), long or short barrel.. they go like hot cakes.

Haven't gotten to shoot one, but I've handled at least 12 of them.

It's an interesting creation, for sure. I haven't heard any reports from the people who have bought them. My guess is that they like it, either that or they just haven't shot it a lot yet.

Between friends, wife, and I we have put about 75 000 Buckshot rounds and 100 .45 Colt rounds through my pre-Judge. I have had no problems except getting it back from friends who shot it. Originally it was just designated the model 44-Ten and did not have the name Judge on it.

Even though Taurus only lists two barrel lengths in their information there are in fact three barrel lengths available. The big distributor Sports South contracted for a version with a 4" barrel. I have a blued 4" that does not have Judge on it. My cousin has one that is stainless with the 4" barrel with Judge on it. I deliberately chose the 4" barrel. The long barrel is unwieldy to me and the balance seems off. The sort barrel seems to be off balance as well. The 4" seems to point itself at the target.

Mine has 3 .410 000 Buck rounds followed by two .45 LC hollowpoints. The cylinder is set so that the 3 .410 shells are the first ones to fire. I have been looking for some other .410 ammo to try. I would like to have something like number 4 Buckshot, but have not come across any yet.

I was greatly surprised by how accurate the gun is with the .45 rounds. I expected that with the long standoff when using the .45 rounds it would be difficult to hit a target accurately. When I tried it, however, I found I was able to put rounds in COM at 10 yards as fast as I could aim and pull the trigger. After the first time I did this I tried a little different method. I placed 3 silhouette targets at 10 yards and about 18" apart. I did not have a holster, so I placed it in my belt. I drew and fired all 5 rounds as fast as I could move from one target to another going right to left and swinging back to the right target after the first three shots. The results were gratifying especially since I am not that good with handguns: all 5 in the A zone (COM). Two each in the right and center targets and one in the left.

The Taurus is my wife's house gun usually. It moves to the front of the house when we are home. If I am not at home she either has it in the living room and wears her Kahr CW-9 or she wears the Taurus in a Western style crossdraw holster. You do not want this lady to shoot at you. She is extremely accurate with a handgun.

After shooting a friends, its on my list, not as a home defense weapon (a Glock has that duty) but as a hunting pistol. The first cylinder would be loaded with #4 shot to deal with snakes and the rest would be 45 JHPs to deal with four/two leg critters I might come across (small black bears, rabid coyotes, mountain lions and meth cooks....with meth cooks being the most common).

Only change I'd make is have a good gunsmith turn it into DAO by removing the single action notch and bobbing the hammer and replacing the front sight with an AO big dot night sight.

HKS is making speedloaders for it and several manufactors are making shoulder holsters for it. Other than that, makes a really neat weapon that will do alot of different things.

However that said, I'm still checking out the legailty of actually carrying shotgun shells in a weapon that has a barrel less than 18 inches. Will keep you appraised on that one, as soon as I finish lunch with an ATF guy on Monday.

I believe that the "Judge" can get by with shotshells because it has a rifled barrel and is not considered a shotgun. Carrying shot shells in it should be no different that carrying shot shells in a regular .357.

I only have a C&R license but I believe that is the rule that it is cover under.

I think it gets by simply because it is a "Pistol" and not a Shotgun or Rifle. There is no barrel length restriction applied to Pistols. Smooth bore nor otherwise. It just as to be manufactured as a pistol (on a virgin receiver never manufactured as a Rifle or Shotgun) and remain a pistol with no provision for a butt stock. I don't know of anything that requires a pistol to be rifled barrel. However they almost always are these days. But that was not alway so.

And the only ammo restriction stipulation to Pistols is "Armor Piercing" ammo of which no shot shell that I know of is Armor Piercing according to BATF. .410 Buck Shot or Slugs do not meet the definition of AP because they have no steel core and is not specifically listed as AP either.